This invention relates to golf clubs, more particularly to golf club heads. More particularly still, this invention relates to perimeter weighted golf clubs that have improved structures for distributing the weight at the perimeter of the club head.
In golf club design, iron golf clubs have undergone an evolution. Irons originally had relatively flat xe2x80x9cbladexe2x80x9d club heads.
The design of iron-type golf clubs then evolved into club heads of the xe2x80x9ccavity backxe2x80x9d type. Cavity back designs involve taking the weight from the center of the club head and redistributing it to the toe and heel portions of the club head While leaving a cavity behind the hitting area. Irons having a cavity back design which have been marketed on a wide scale by Karsten Mfg. of Phoenix, Ariz. under the trademark xe2x80x9cPINGxe2x80x9d are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,655,188, 3,897,065, the patent issued out of application Ser. No. 07/620,521 on Apr. 23, 1985, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,813, all issued to Solheim. While the irons sold under the trademark xe2x80x9cPINGxe2x80x9d have been highly successful, the search for improved perimeter weighted iron club head designs has continued.
more recently, the design of wood and iron-type golf club heads has been directed to so-called xe2x80x9coversizedxe2x80x9d club heads. Examples of such clubs are BIG BERTHA metal woods manufactured by Callaway Golf of Carlsbad, Calif., BIG HEAD oversized metal woods and irons manufactured by Head of Fort Worth, Tex., DOCTOR oversized irons manufactured by MacGregor of Albany, Ga., KING COBRA oversized metal woods and irons manufactured by Cobra Golf, Inc. of Carlsbad, Calif., and KILLER WHALE metal woods manufactured by Wilson Sporting Goods of Chicago, Ill.
There is room for improvement in the design of all of the aforementioned clubs. For example, one drawback in these clubs is that the perimeter weighting is not distributed as efficiently as it could potentially be distributed. Another drawback is that the appearance of these clubs is such that the player might tend to believe that using such clubs will result in a sliced shot due to the fact that many of these iron club heads have portions that fan out from the rear of the toe of the club head.
The design of iron clubheads is governed by Rule 4-1d in Appendix II of the rules of the United States Golf Association (the xe2x80x9cUSGAxe2x80x9d). Rule 4-1d requires-that:
The clubhead shall be generally plain in shape. All parts shall be rigid, structural in nature and functional.
Features such as holes through the head, windows or transparancies, or appendages to the main body of the head such as plates, rods, or fins for the purpose of meeting dimensional specifications, for aiming or for any other purpose are not permitted.
Golf clubs must meet the requirements of the USGA to be considered xe2x80x9clegalxe2x80x9d for tournament play.
Thus, a need exists for improved perimeter weighted golf clubs clubs that conform to the requirements of the Rules of Golf of the USGA. In particular, a need exists for perimeter weighted golf clubs that have improved appearance and improved structures for distributing the weight around the perimeter of the club head.
These and other objects of the present invention will be more readily apparent when considered in reference to the following description and when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
The present invention relates to improved perimeter weighted golf clubs, particularly those of the iron type. It should be understood, however, that the same principles can also be applied to the design of xe2x80x9cmetalxe2x80x9d wood type clubs. The perimeter weighted golf clubs of the present invention are provided with improved structures for distributing the weight around the perimeter of the club head.
The first basic embodiment of the golf club of the present invention has a club head having a club face with a hitting surface and a spacer outboard of the hitting surface which connects the hitting surface and the weighted perimeter portion of the club head. The spacer allows the weighted perimeter portion of the club head to be disposed further outward from the hitting surface than in current cavity back clubs to increase the efficiency of the perimeter weighting. The spacer can be any suitable structure, such as a thinned portion or a lighter weight portion of the club head. The aforementioned embodiment of the present invention can also provide an xe2x80x9coversizedxe2x80x9d iron club head without substantially increasing the mass of the club head.
In a second basic embodiment, the golf club comprises an iron or a metal type wood club head with a main body (or frame) at least a portion of which is tubular. In a particularly preferred version of this embodiment, the tubular portion of the frame is a flattened tubular structure. The tubular frame provides a strong structure that is much lighter in weight than perimeter weighted golf clubs of the type described in the aforementioned patents. This allows a larger club head to be created without the mass of current perimeter weighted clubs.
In these or other embodiments, the club head can have a structure that facilitates the desired rotation of the club face when the club is swung. A non-limiting number of additional features which can be incorporated into these embodiments and a non-limiting number of additional embodiments are also described herein.